Kiffin's gaffes and miscues part of a plan

Lane Kiffin did not wear motley, or sport an orange cap-and-bells, on his first day at the Southeastern Conference meetings on Tuesday.

By Cecil HurtSports Editor

DESTIN, Fla. | Lane Kiffin did not wear motley, or sport an orange cap-and-bells, on his first day at the Southeastern Conference meetings on Tuesday.

The new University of Tennessee football coach, variously characterized as a loudmouth, a fool, or the greatest manipulator of the media in the 21st century, really didn't present any of those aspects in a 35-minute meeting with the media. He was young and energetic and occasionally witty.After being peppered with questions about his 'war of words' with University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer, Kiffin finally broke a fairly consistent pattern of non-commital answers. He was asked a softball question about whether it was 'necessary' to be 'friends' with any other SEC coaches and responded that he 'requested adjoining rooms with Urban,' to general laughter.'You knew I would say something if you asked enough,' Kiffin smiled.Earlier, in response to a recruiting question, he replied that he 'couldn't get into specifics.''That's an NCAA violation and we are trying to go a whole week without one,' he said.For his part, Meyer seemed unmoved by the levity. Conducting his press conference in another part of the Hilton Hotel, Meyer said that 'some things are professional and some are unprofessional. 'The two coaches have been feuding since National Signing Day when Kiffin told a Tennessee booster group that Meyer had 'cheated' in recruiting.'I apologized to him, to Jeremy Foley and to everyone at the University of Florida that I might have offended,' Kiffin said. 'I don't know how much faster you can respond to something,'Kiffin did at least hint, though, that the repeated verbal gaffes and minor NCAA miscues that have generated almost constant publicity since he was hired were part of a plan to publicize Tennessee and its program.'This job needed a spark (in) national exposure,' he said. 'You have got to be able to reach players around the country. We have a plan and as I look over the past six months, it is going well.'You never say anything is perfect. We are always looking for things we could have done better. But there aren't any six-year plans in football any more. You can't say we'll lay low in the weeds this year and then maybe next year, we will have a Top 10 recruiting class. We had to have an immediate impact.''We signed a Top 10 class this year, including the No. 1 player in the country (Kansas running back Bryce Brown),' Kiffin said. 'I don't think that would have happened if we had taken a conservative approach.'

SABAN TALKS EARLY-SIGNING PERIODNot all the coaches at the SEC meetings were in favor of a proposed early signing date for football, a concept that has been discussed (with little official movement) over the past few years.'I don't think we need to change things,' said Georgia coach Mark Richt. 'It's pretty good the way it is and sometimes when you change one thing, it changes other things that you didn't intend to change.'Alabama head coach Nick Saban, however, is a proponent of change.Asked about a proposal by Ohio State coach Jim Tressell that would move official prospect visits to June, Saban used the question as a springboard.'If we do that, then we should really look at (an early signing period),' Saban said. 'Maybe we could move the official visits to June, not have official visits during the season and then have a signing period in late November. I don't know if anybody is out there lobbying for it, but I would like for us to look at it.'Saban was also asked about his hiring of former University of Virginia offensive coordinator Mike Groh – the son of Cavalier head coach Al Groh – as a graduate assistant. Again, Saban used his answer as an opportunity to touch on other issues.'He is going to graduate school and he didn't have a job and he is being paid the same thing that any graduate assistant is paid,' Saban said. 'His dad is a good friend of mine and I am sure Al would do the same thing for my son if the opportunity arose. I was a graduate assistant once, for $1,000 a year. Our paths to being graduate assistants have been different – I was a GA before I got a coaching job and he got a coaching job first. But he has a right to work. And I don't really care about who criticizes it.'Saban then said that the NCAA should expand opportunities for graduate assistants, not restrict them.'I like to see us be allowed to have more GA's,' he said. 'I think it is important. For one thing, we talk about developing more minority coaches and this is one way you can do that.'In the NFL, we did that. But it seems like there is no responsibility for that in the NCAA. It is all about limiting staff size and not about creating opportunity.'

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